Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've done a non-Saimoe post. But it's also been a while since I've gotten any new figures. Real Image Yoko was the last new figure I got, until just last week.
But before I get into that, a quick personal update: One of the reasons I haven't been able to bu...

International Saimoe League
It's time for us to begin voting in a new tournament for the Saimoe League! After Taiga's victory in the Topaz tournament (a gem that I think would look very nice on her), we now begin the third necklace Period, the Amethyst! There will be 4 more necklace tournaments a...

International Saimoe League
Hi everyone! I'm still trying to get my internet mojo back after my move and all. Sorry again for my lack of activity lately. I almost forgot to make the new ISML post! But All's well and here we are with the new phase in the Tournament: The Topaz Period! Since this is...

Hello Everyone! I haven't been very active lately. Sorry. Still adjusting to my new home and actually having friends in the area. It's been nice and I'll see about making a new general personal post about how I've been later, but for now I have a little photo review of my newest figure, Yoko Real Im...

International Saimoe League
Hello everyone! After a short break after the Preliminary and Seeding phase of the tournament, ISML is back! The first day of voting for the real competition is now open. In this round all of the girls are put up in one-on-one votes against another girl. Pretty simpl...

Thanks for adding Petite Cruruya-san :) That was perfect input. If the figure is being sold with manga/magazine/whatever, we can't determine its price, but it would be great to indicate the whole price of a set in the 'Features' category.
About sculptor... well, I'm not sure whether we are correct about terminology. Sometimes this man is called "Producer". All figures have one, but - true - sometimes it's almost impossible to find his (or her) name. We leave this field empty in such case.

That makes me happy. ^_^ Now the first two pictures in my Smoked Cheese Photoshoot are now visible!

I was also a little unsure about something else. With trading figures, I'm assuming each figure from a set should be input individually. But in a lot of sets there is a special mystery figure which usually doesn't have any official pictures released by the manufacture. In those cases can a user photo be used instead and a note made in the Features section?

Yes, for sure! But it'll be better if that custom photo turns out to be yours, or belong to your friend or at least to a person, who won't bother. Because you know, some well-known collectors could become furious...

Hahaha, yeah, sorry about the barrage. ^_^"
Well, I have somewhere between 6 and 20 more figures to add before my whole collection is in the database. Then I can work on just finding other figures that aren't in there yet, and just all around enjoying the site and stuff. XD

Your help is invaluable! I hope we'll have more nice and active users - just like you are - in the nearest future :) Because, well.. when someone starts a new project, the first months are usually the hardest, but the support of our first users is what keeps us going :)

Thank you for the kind words. I'm happy to help. I find it to be really fun putting entries into the database. It's like an internet scavenger hunt. Some of the older figures (2006 and older) can be really hard to find information on. It's really satisfying to finally finish getting everything I need to put in an entry when it's really rough like that. I hope we get more nice and active users, too. :)

Awwww, I'm sorry I kind of disappeared. I didn't really go anywhere, just been a little preoccupied. Been catching up with a couple of long distance friends, one from back when I was working in New Mexico, one from high school who now works in Washington DC. For the past three or four days my computer has been tied up burning disc upon disc of anime for my DC friend. It's been a while since I sent him any anime and I had to get him a copy of Toradora among other things. I ended up burning 28 discs for him, plus at least 10 discs of failed burns. >_< Oh, and then a couple of days ago I downloaded the game PixelJunk Shooter on PS3 and have been obsessed with that for the past 2 days. It's an addictive little game. So that's all that's been going on with me. Sorry for my spurt of inactivity. I should be back to normal now and it looks like I have some catching up to do. It makes me happy to know that I was missed. :)

And yes, I did get the camera returned and the refund hit my account so everything ended okay. I'm just out $14 or so in shipping charges, but it's better than being stuck with a product I'm not satisfied with. At this point I think I'll just wait until I'm working again to buy a good quality camera like the one you have.

That was nice to hear :) You shouldn't make any excuses. It's just I get used to people easily; and when someone disappears I start worrying pretty soon. "Moshikashite something bad happened..." But people can be occupied with lots of things, which is normal. I better train my spirit :)

Oh, don't worry about it. I know how you feel. I can't remember how many people I've been worried might have died or something when I'd lose contact with them for a little while or when they'd be really late. At one time in my life it was happening so often that I half jokingly thought, "I only really care about someone if I've been afraid that they might be dead at some point." The earliest I remember it happening was when I was probably 10 or so. A few times when my dad would be really late coming home from work I'd be afraid that he got in a car crash or something and I'd start crying over it. -_-

So yeah, don't worry about it. Coming from you it's actually kind of cute in a weird way. ^_^

Yeah-yeah, it's exactly what I was talking about... You might be watching TV or reading a book, and suddenly stumble upon a fact that you haven't seen someone for * hours (or days). I hate this feeling. Besides, it's stupid, cause a minute ago you was pretty happy enjoying... well, anime, for example.

Awww, okay. I'll be sure to stay active and warn you in case I'll be gone for an extended period of time. XD

Speaking of which, in case I don't get another chance, I'll be attending an anime convention next weekend (Jan 29-31). I may or may not have internet access at the hotel or time to post while I'm there so promise you won't get worried again, okay? :)

Figure hunting is going to be one of my main goals while I'm at the con so I'll most likely be making a blog post with a bunch of pictures to show off my loot when I get back. ^_^

Ok, I promise :)
Anime convention sounds great! We have no figurines events here in Russia (though there are lots of general anime parties going almost everywhere). You should write us a kind of report :)

Hey, Aaron!
I've read you have time to help us with a linking process. Actually the linking itself will be done automatically (just give us some time), so there is really no need to put links manually... But if you want to help there is a thing - a rather boring one I suppose, but it should be done before we'll start linking the figurines. If you're interested, I'll tell you the details.

Ok. Our anime database is more or less complete and will be used as a source of originals. But a huge number of characters are missing. What we need to do before launching our 'linking machine' is to create (manually) all the missing characters for our existing figurines.

To do so we need to open our figurines database and scan all the figurines checking if they already have a corresponding character in anime database or not. If not, a character should be created. If you want you can fill in all the stuff (including pictures and description), but what is really needed are name, surname (if there is any) and at least one role. We can provide the details afterwards.

If a character does not appear in any anime series (for example, it's a game character), its page should be created anyways, but without roles.

There is no need to link the existing figurines with the new characters you're creating for them. We just need character's pages. While scanning figurines, you can also find ones that already have a character, but no link. And again - no edition needed. Sometimes figurines names include characters names written incorrectly. It doesn't matter for now either. Yoroshiku onegai moshiagemasu!

Ah, I was wondering if that was what needed to be done. I actually started doing a little bit of that last night. But Aaliyah was the first one on the list and being from a hentai character information is a little harder to come by. Then when I did get all the info that was needed, I found out she already had a blank character page already that just wasn't linked to the hentai she was from (the title used in the figure database is a little different than the primary title in the anime database). So then assuming that you guys had already started working on that I decided to work from the back of the list and a little spastically around at random. But of course I was trying to fill in as much information as possible so I didn't get a lot of characters done. I'll try to power through and get as many character pages established as I can and maybe fill in the more specific information later.

And I have finished making or confirming character pages for every figure that has had at least one anime role. At least to my knowledge. Most of them are bare-bones pages with just name information, but they should have all of their anime roles included. I'll try expanding on them eventually and make more character pages.

I haven't started working on other character pages that don't have anime. At this point my eyes are getting a little sore. o_o But is there eventually going to be a way to find those pages? Are they going to be linked from the figure pages? Is there going to be a character search function? Just wondering. ^_^

I'm so thankful :) Great work!
As to your questions... yes. The answer is 'yes' to all of them. The characters database doesn't have its own page (or option in the menu) now, but it exists - thanks to you and other kind guys, who are helping us.
The problem is we are snowed under the work... So, keep patient, ok? :P

Oh don't worry about it. I know you guys are working hard and that this is still a work in progress. ^_^

And sorry to give you more work, but there were some things I found while going through the Figurines database with some of the original titles.

Evangelion:
There is an "Evangelion" and an "Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance" Original category in the database which both look fine. But then there is also a "Neon Genesis Evengalion" which for one, "Evangelion" is misspelled in that category and it also has 2.0 figures in it. Then there is the "Rebuild of Evangelion" category which is fine in itself is fine, but it is linked to Evangelion 1.0 in the Anime database and includes figures of Asuka who doesn't appear in the first Rebuild movie. So I think the "Neon Genesis Evengalion" category should be taken out, moving the 2.0 figures to the 2.0 category and the rest to the "Evangelion" category. Then the "Rebuild of Evangelion" should probably be changed to specifically say the 1.0 movie, "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone" and move the Asuka figures to the 2.0 category.

Vocaloid:
There is a general "Vocaloid" category, but there are also specific "Character Vocal Series 01: Miku Hatsune" and "Character Vocal Series 02: Rin and Len Kagamine" which probably aren't really needed. The figures in there can just be moved to the Vocaloid category.

Fate/stay night:
There are two identical categories, "Fate/Stay Night" and "Fate/stay night" which should be combined.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha:
Two identical categories, "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS" and "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS" should be combined. Also, should diced if you want the series to called "Mahou Shoujo" or "Magical Girl" as there are also two other categories from the series in the database, "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's" and "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The 1st MOVIE." Personally I prefer "Magical Girl" which I think it is a little more commenly known as, although the default names in the Anime database use "Mahou Shoujo" so it's up to you.

Queen's Blade:
Two identical categories, "Queen's Blade" and "Queens Blade" should be combined. The "Queens Blade" category only has one figure so it isn't too bad.

Rozen Maiden:
"Rozen Maiden: Träumend" is the second season of the anime. Therefore there are three identical categories, "Rozen Maiden 2", "Rozen Maiden: Träumend", and "Rozen Maiden: Traumend" which need to be combined.

Touhou:
Two identical categories, "Touhou Project" and "Touhou series" should be combined.

Wow, that was a lot. Sorry about that. Hopefully you guys have an easier way to fix this type of problem than going into each individual figure entry and editing it. ^_^"

Wow. You are born to write reports! Sorry for sounding brutally honest... :)
Ok... If it makes you glad, the linking was successfully finished - but we have to update the site to make it visible. I think it would be done before weekend :) Yuppie!

Thank you. ^_^
It's actually a shawl, not a scarf. My mom made it for me for XMas and it's friggin' huge! XD
I'm over six feet tall and the thing still drags on the ground if I drape it over my head. That mean it's at least 12 feet long. And it's about three feet wide. Crazy big!

Well, she was using a pattern and actually messed up on a lot of it so it's longer in the middle, so I'd say it's more patience than skill. XD
She also did three more projects for Christmas presents this year. One each for my two sisters and one for my oldest sister's daughter. Although theirs weren't anywhere near as big as mine. She also made be a big scarf (8 inch wide, about 8 feet long) while I was over there for the holidays. ^_^

Hey, Aaron :) How are you doing? Got some free time to work on Michelle's bio? I've finally decided to make a special page for her. How about to start with the basics? A few characteristics and a couple of words about her present will be enough for a while. You've already sent me the info, but I thought maybe you'd like to change something, so I decided to ask you first. Anyways, can you resend me the info on hello[nya!]myanimeshelf.com ?

Sorry I haven't been around much. I actually started my new job two weeks ago and have been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend during my time off. Pretty busy. I've been meaning to polish up the bio that I sent you before. Wanted to try doing some illustrations, too. I should finally have time to work on it this week. I may even get some of it done at work. Give me a little time and I should be able to get it to you within the next 2 days or so. I'd work up the basics now, but I'm getting ready to get together with some friends to play D&D. I should at least be able to get that to you tomorrow if that's okay?

Ok, let's say you have 2 or 3 days to send me... errr, something. It's up to you how detailed the text would be. I guess, we don't really need a full bio now. It's just several users keep asking who's Michelle and I mainly want to get rid of such questions. I also don't recommend you to make it ultra-detailed cause I stumbled upon a number of facts we have to deal with and maybe it will lead to some changes. I'll show you soon :) Ok?

Cool, glad you got it. My email was acting a little weird so I wasn't sure if it went through okay.

And yeah, I still plan to run around with the ShelfGirl account on MAL to try to bring more attention to the site, but I'm still a bit busy adjusting to having a job and being in a relationship again. Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get back to full activity here and do stuff more stuff on MAL. Ahhh, I haven't even had time to post a photo review of the first Bakemonogatari P.Nendo set. :(

Hey, Aaron! I know you're busy with your romantic relationship... I just wanted to know if you're alright. So, how have you been doing? When it comes to me, the quick news are 1) Shelf is still alive 2) Vallefor and I got married 3) Moscow region is suffering from fires and smog. Well, that's it I guess :)

Hi Nataliya! Sorry for being so inactive. I guess you can say I'm officially on hiatus now. Yeah, a big part of it is that I'm spending as much time as I can with my girlfriend, but there is also the fact that my internet connection at home is very unreliable. I use a USB wireless adapter and it fades in and out a lot. If it wasn't for that I'd probably still be popping in every now and then. I have actually been checking the site as much as I can, just haven't been posting because of the connection. It really takes way to much time to actually be able to post a reply. It's taken me nearly and hour to write this response to you. So a late congratulations to your wedding! You both looked very nice. And sorry about the fires and smog. That doesn't sound fun at all. Anyway, I'll return some day, I promise. I really do like the site. Just need a better computer and better internet before that happens. Laters! ^_^